Will 6-inch phablets kill 7-inch tablets?

Smaller devices with 7- and 8-inch display are driving growth in the explosive tablet market right now, but what happens when your smartphone display is almost the same size as your tablet’s screen? Samsung’s Galaxy Mega 6.3 features a 6.3-inch display, Huawei’s Ascend Mate sports a 6.1-inch panel and HTC’s upcoming HTC One Max will reportedly launch with a 6-inch display. These panels measure less than 1 diagonal inch smaller than popular tablets like the Amazon Kindle Fire HD or Google’s Nexus 7, and Digitimes notes that “sources from the tablet sector are concerned that these devices may create new competition for tablets.” If sales of supersized phablets like the Galaxy Mega 6.3 and HTC One Max indeed pick up, it stands to reason that these “sources from the tablet sector” are right to be afraid.